There is a growing popularity in the United States in vehicle kits used to make hobby vehicles. A variety of different vehicle kits are available to construct many different styles of vehicles including hot rods and antique-looking vehicles. Vehicle kits include customized vehicle parts that enable an individual to hand assemble customized vehicles having state-of-the-art features. One important state of the art feature of many of the customized vehicles is powered windows, door locks, etc.
To supply the powered windows and door locks with electricity, electricity from the vehicle's battery must be conducted across a hinge space located between the door jambs. The spacing between the door jambs varies as the vehicle door is opened and closed. When the vehicle door is closed, the hinge space, or the space between the door, is often formed by only a small amount of clearance between the opposing door jambs. When the vehicle door is opened, the door's closing edge or jamb pivots away from the opposing door post, causing the size of the hinge space to increase.
Due to the varying size of the jamb spacing and the limited size of the jamb space when the vehicle door is closed, the manual installation and operation of powered window has proven to be problematic. The prior art method used to conduct electricity across the hinge space is to run wires across the hinge space. The wires running across the hinge or jamb space must be of a length sufficient to cross the hinge space while the door is in an open position. When the vehicle door is closed, the size of the hinge space is decreased and there is an excess length of wire in the hinge space that must have space to collect. The need to store excess wire while the door is closed necessitates a hinge space of sufficient size to collect the excess wire. Therefore, vehicles must be designed with a large clearance between the door jambs. In addition, even if the size of the hinge space is sized to collect the excess wire formed when the door is closed, the wires still have a tendency to tangle and scratch other vehicle components.
Some vehicle doors do have a switch used to control the flow of electricity through the wires passing through the hinge space. These prior art switches operate to allow electricity to flow through the wires while the door is closed, but open the circuit when the vehicle door is opened. These prior art switches still require wires to pass through the hinge space. In addition prior art switches require precise alignment of the moving switch components that mate. Such prior art switching devices require precise tolerances between the mating switch components. In addition, prior art switches often are excessively large and have the potential to scratch other parts of the vehicle during the opening and closing of the vehicle door.